As it happens every month, Netflix's streaming library is getting some big changes in September, with lots of new original series, movies and specials making their debuts. The downside, of course, involves all of the licensed properties getting cycled out, and Tim Allen's former ABC sitcom Last Man Standing is one of the big names getting booted from the service next month. This probably won't be taken lightly by devout fans.
While many exiting projects bid farewell to Netflix at the beginning of the month, Last Man Standing will be sticking around until September 30, at which point it will be gone for an undermined amount of time. Perhaps interestingly, Season 6 -- the most recent one to air on ABC prior to its cancellation -- never even got to make it to Netflix's programming lineup, and it'll be Last Man Standing's first five seasons leaving.
While Netflix customers always hate to see a beloved show or movie bite the streaming dust, it isn't something that happens with malice in mind, as it's all about the financial bottom line. Whatever licensing deal Netflix had for Last Man Standing likely expired, and it was either decided that renewing it wasn't a good option, or another company was already waiting in line to pick up those rights. Hulu, for instance, has only had Season 6 of Last Man Standing available for its customers, which was likely limited by Netflix's deal. As such, it wouldn't be surprising to see Seasons 1-5 showing up on Hulu in the near future.
Another potential angle here -- though a far less likely one, all things considered -- is that another network or studio is gearing up for a Last Man Standing revival, which could definitely complicate things in the rights department for anyone involved. There were some murmurs that CMT wasin line to take it on, but that fell through due to how expensive Last Man Standing is, largely because of Tim Allen's paydays.
It's been just three months since Last Man Standing first got the axe from ABC, and it's a decision that's still on a lot of fans minds. The initial cancellation drew some protests and angry words, and some suspected it was done with political motivations in mind. ABC's reasoning was partly because of costs, and partly because of a change in programming for the Friday night timeslot where Last Man Standing (and fellow cancelled comedy Dr. Ken) aired.
For now, Last Man Standing's first five seasons are still available on Netflix for streaming, but that'll all change on September 30. In the meantime, head to our 2017 Netflix schedule fro everything else heading to Netflix in the near future, while you can check out our summer TV schedule and our fall premiere schedule to see everything else hitting the small screen.
